Reigate Sportive results and course news
You know how it goes; a perfect summers day, a really stunning course to ride, everything is prepared and set for a flawless day's riding...
...except some people are determined to try and muck it up! We had a great day on the whole at Reigate yesterday, with over 430 riders signed up, and everything went to plan except for in one far corner of the course. Many of you on the Full route will have noticed that your ride was a little shorter than expected, due to the removal of signs from a junction on Ides Hill by persons unknown. This appears to have been part of a fairly concerted and malicious effort to remove signs in that area; what you won't be aware of is that about four other junctions on that part of the course were also completely stripped of signage, but our motorbike marshal was able to replace it on his pre ride before riders got out there. Unfortunately, the Ides Hill junction signage had been in place first thing and was not removed until after he had passed through, so by the time we had identified the problem, a lot of riders had been affected.
We have now posted provisional results for the ride, but obviously these are currently skewed by the fact that some riders actually completed a course 20km shorter than the Full route, through no fault of their own or ours. We're currently considering the best way to adjust the results display to reflect what riders actually did more accurately, but if you were one of the riders who was caught out by this unintended short cut, we'd like to know. either email us with your name a rider number, or post them on the comments below and we'll try and sort out the list appropriately.
We hope that, on a day when it was just good to be out on the bike at all, this didn't spoil your enjoyment of the ride.
Posted by Carl Simmons (no. 316) about 0 month ago
Great ride. I actually ended up completing a greater distance by topping Ide Hill, dropping a right-hander, then a second right-hander to flick us back out onto the course just north of the reservoir (all thanks to a chap that could thankfully read a map). I ended up then having to pass 4 of my colleagues who id previously left in my dust who thought i was doing a second lap. Didnt ruin the day, and for my first ever Sportive i thought it was excellent. I was robbed of a gold by 6 minutes but its not the result that counts. Many thanks Carl
Posted by Andrew Taylor #339 about 0 month ago
Hi. I was one of the riders who was affected by the missing signs, and missed 20km of the long route.
Posted by Steve Ingle about 0 month ago
My mate and I fell for the short cut...
Rider numbers 188 and 355
We've both been doing quite a few sportives this year and entered this event with the aim of measuring our progress a couple of weeks out from the Etape. It was dissapointing to only end up doing 114km. Once we realised what had happened at the second food stop, we thought about trying to shoe horn an extra 20km in somehow, but in the end just decided to bust a gut getting back to the finish. It's a shame. We felt a little flat after as I think we were on target for a gold. In the end we made it by and hour - too easy :-)
This is the second event I've taken part in this season that was affected by signs being tampered with, though it didn't cause as much trouble in the other case.
Good event otherwise. Interesting course, good food stops, and the start / finish area was well set up. Cup of tea and a bowl of chili went down a treat sitting in the sun at the end.
Cheers,
Steve
Posted by Peter Archer about 0 month ago
I only ride southern sportive events because I know they will be well organised. Shame about the signs being vandalised especially as your signage is nigh perfect. I was riding the short course, at 69yrs that's enough for me. A cracking day out, roll on september.
Thanks again
Peter
Posted by steve fisher about 0 month ago
followed a shorter route but still managed to clock up over 76 miles on the garmin
dont know what you'll do if this is important to people , for me the redhill warriors led out (what was for me ) a fast first 30 miles and I recorded personally 17.4 mph average over the whole trip.which includes my stop time , so for me I'm happy with that , dont mind what you call it ,
good route great day out. Be happy to do other sportives with you again if they are this well organised
Posted by Eddie Bell about 0 month ago
Having checked through my Garmin data this afternoon, I see that the missing signs added a good 8 minutes to my time, I got to the top of Ide Hill turned round and dropped back down to the route. No big issue to me though, was a great day, well done to all.
Posted by Jeremy Laidlaw about 0 month ago
Hi - Was with the front group, Rider number 221, so was on the route that was shortened as mentioned. Was surprised when i came in timewise but my cycle computer went on the blink at 80kms but knew something was up finishing under 4hrs for that distance.
Suggest you classify the times for that group of riders that were affected by the shorter duration.
Have to also say that the cycle route was brilliant with lovely roads and free from traffic and great scenery. Thanks for the updates and look forward to the next one
Cheers
Posted by Jenny Craig about 0 month ago
Ride No: 89.
Was affected by the missing signs, but still had a really enjoyable day in the sun and on the bike - an excellent route nonetheless. Have to agree with the aforementioned and just classify the ones who did the shorter than expected route with the mid route riders.
Thanks for organising!!
Posted by howard bentwood about 0 month ago
rider 31
great day out even with the missing sign - on the positive side, the climb up ide hill was spectacular .....slightly disappointing to see a whole load of riders descending as we reached the top
nether the less a great ride- thanks for organising
Posted by Jane Charlton about 0 month ago
Yep, I must have missed out the 20k as I caught up with a group of London Dynamo or London Paragon guys and followed them. I realised a bit later I would never have caught them up in the 'real' world ;)
The trailbreak guys as always did their very best to give us all a great day. Will be back for more if you can arrange the weather like that again.
Posted by howard bentwood about 0 month ago
rider 31
great day out even with the missing sign - on the positive side, the climb up ide hill was spectacular .....slightly disappointing to see a whole load of riders descending as we reached the top - fyi, total miles for the route i did was 85 so not sure if i need time adjusting or not??
nether the less a great ride- thanks for organising
Posted by Dave Gedye(136) about 0 month ago
Hi folks,
First of all, well done to Trail Break for organinsing an event so well. Pity about the morons of this world with nothing else to do but make a nuisance of themselves.
I think I was one of those that got caught out by the route markers being missed around with.
I was the idiot who pushed up th 1st real hill and excitedly got to the top in great spirits in front of the group behind me(which were part of the lead out group). Unfortunatley the 2nd real lump was only 20 minutes down the road and I paid the price for overexhuberance!
Being a sad accountant by trade, I thought I'd try figure out who else got caught out on this(I was the bloke wearing the plain blue jersey).
Looking at who went through Checkpoint 2 around my time - there wereabout 7 or 8 of us in a little group - there areseveral riders around the 2'43'' times and we all seem to havefinshed just under 4 hours (there or thereabouts).
Frustratinly I accidentl rest my odometer so canno verify travelling a shorter distance, but having done a few of these events I had the feeling I'd shortchanged the old legs a bit!
Anyway, I reckon I would have got the gold anyway(nothing wrong with a bit of personal pride) so overall happy withmy day.
Thanks again, and see you guys at the next event.
Cheers
Dave
Posted by Graham Riches about 0 month ago
The main problem defintely stemmed from signage being tampered with at the bottom of Ide Hill on the B2042. As I began slogging up the hill numerous riders came hairing down shouting that I was going the wrong way. However I waited till I got to the Y-junction at the top, hoping they were on a different route, only to look at the map and work out they were right.
Back at the bottom of the hill the sign (which should have been a 'turn right') was still there but reversed and turned around. There was also no orange ribbon that characterised other turn points.
I and another rider pontificated for long minutes here before trusting the map and heading for what we hoped would be Bough Beech Resevoir. It seemed like ages before we saw another orange sign. A little further on just after a left turn off the A2027 another sign was missing but the ribbon made it obvious a left turn was required. After this my legs (and Toy's Hill) were the only problem, though I like to think had I not faffed around map reading I might have managed a silver time - oh well it was a great route and brilliant weather! Thanks organisers!
Posted by Bob Hobson (165) about 0 month ago
I got caught out by the signs and ended up doing 72 miles, and I know my Garmin is pretty spot on. This means Dave (136 in blue jersey) that you averaged around 18.8mph and easily managed your gold.
A bit disappointed to be honest; I'd rode the ride to do 87 miles and the finish was a bit of an anti-climax. Having said that the course was good and the weather was superb, and I'll be coming back for more next time.
By the way, great ride Rhys, you pushed me the last 15k's.
Posted by Jonathan Morgan (no.261) about 0 month ago
Yup, I ended up on the shorter route as well. Still a great ride though!
Posted by Jonny Bradbourne about 0 month ago
Rider 41
I was up with the front group and we missed the right turn up Ide Hill to go around Bough Beech Resevoir and so missed out that loop and My Garmin also showed 72 miles. (Is that missed loop really 14 miles?)Leigh Smithers was with me the whole ride too and completed the same distance/time. Our average should be adjusted to 18.95mph.
Great weather and great ride though still.
Posted by martin@southernsportive about 0 month ago
Thanks for the comments everyone; it's good to hear that for the most part, this didn't spoil the day. It's very frustrating to put so much work into an event just to have it thoughtlessly attacked like this.
We've now adjusted results for everyone who has reported in to us, as well as for those that were obviously flagged. What we've done is to put a distance adjustment into the data next to your name, so that the calculation will show up the correct time band award for the actual distance you rode, rather than just for the intended course distance. Where riders have reported getting up the hill before turning back to complete the full course, we've added 5k to your overall distance to compensate.
The very high Gold time percentage for the field suggests that there are still a lot of riders who still need adjusting though, so we'll keep looking into that, but if you were affected by this problem and your name isn't highlighted in red on the list, please do let us know still.
Posted by Brendan Kearney (204) about 0 month ago
I was blissfully unaware of any problems with the signage until I ended up back at Riegate College after 126km.
Great ride though, some tough lumps in the middle and weather played its part.
Posted by Phillip Jemmison about 0 month ago
Rider 194 - I turned back ¾ of the way between Ide Hill and Sundridge having remembered that the route followed the resevoir. I went back down Idle Hill and went to the resevoir and picked up the signage again. I did 89 miles according to my Garmin.
Posted by Patsy Howe about 0 month ago
As the last rider to finish it probably doesn't make a lot of difference but I completed the whole route plus the climb to the top of Ide Hill and back down again to find the turning to the end loop (no 173). Many thanks for a great ride - enjoyed it!
Posted by Asa Winder about 0 month ago
Rider 367. Please add 20Km of time to me. It didn't spoil the event though, in fact it saved me as I was hanging near the end!
I should have trusted the Garmin when it said I went off course and will in future.
Top sportive though, would love to do it again.
Posted by Christian D'angelo about 0 month ago
It was my first sportive event and I had been fired up for it since hopping off the plane from Australia 8 days earlier.
I normally do a ride once a week for 50-60 KM's, so I picked the mid-route, as a realistic challenge to push hard over.
The weather and organisation were both good (I'd have preferred about 5 degrees C hotter, but hey!)and my 49 year old bones felt mostly together.....pity I somehow made a blue, along with 3 other blokes, in between the Start and Checkpoint 1. I don't know if it was sabotage or senility to blame now, after reading we all had "helpers" out on the day......
It had me doing an extra 16.2 K's as a result and mangled any hopes of a Gold!!
Still, my own electronics showed me doing 117.3K's at an average of 26.1KPH against a required mid 25 over 101KM's for Gold, so that cheered me up (along with a sports recovery beer).Even if the official results only reflect a Bronze for 101KM's completed, they also show my start to Check 1 time is junk where the "detour" occurred but the Check 1 to Check 2 time is on the Gold pace. (Yes, Cadel,very good!!)
I don't know if my own recorded average can be considered in light of my result, but in any case, it was a gorgeous bit of England to have had the pleasure to ride through and I quite liked the cakes at the food stops!!!!
Some of the roads were bloody rough in places, made we winch a bit, being on a new full carbon Italian Steed.
All in all, I have to say it was 15 Quid well spent, Lads.
Posted by michael howard Rider 172 about 0 month ago
How would we know if we rode a short distance? any clues. If xx kms was lost then I dont hij it would have been 20km. A well organised event. I also will be riding Etape and at 62 I had a great ride.
Posted by Graham Tucker-350 about 0 month ago
I was also affected by the missing signs and clocked 71mls. In spite of that I thoroughly enjoyed the day, many thanks.
Posted by martin@southernsportive about 0 month ago
Michael - the far loop of the course took you south then north around both sides of the reservoir. If you don't remember doing that, then you probably rode the unintentional shorter distance.
Posted by Mike Stoaling - 333 about 0 month ago
I was the rider with the map at the top of Ide Hill (rack pack, mudguards, 22yr old blue Cliff Shrubb, not an ounce of carbon in sight). I didn't want to retrace so went right and right again to drop down Yorks Hill and rejoin the course just short of the reservoir. I think it took about 10 mins extra and a few extra kms (not the 20kms short that you'd have done if you didn't go down Yorks Hill. A good ride but some rough roads that could have been avoided. Mike
Posted by Roger Ardley (No 9) about 0 month ago
I was one of those affected by the missing sign. I went up Ide Hill and later realised there should have been a right turn. Allowing for the time sorting out what to do, my Garmin registered a 15.6 mph average.
Thank you all for a great well organised event - thoroughly enjoyed it. Will be back to do it again (with Garmin programmed with the route next time!)
